Mushroom named &#39;Grifon 120&#39;

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct variety of mushroom, named ‘Grifon 120’, is described, which mushroom is characterized by its cap with thick flesh and delicious-looking whitish undersurface, good qualitative character and appearance, good keeping quality and storage life and delicious tasting. The mushroom can be cultivated by gathering and repeated breeding of fungal strains having dominant traits and is exquisite in stability, reproducibility and uniformity when being produced.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Japanese Plant VarietyRegistration Application No. 21346 filed on Aug. 21, 2007 with theMinistry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, which isherein incorporated by reference.

Latin Name: Grifola frondosa (Fr.) S.F. Gray

Varietal Denomination: Grifon 120

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of mushroomplant, named ‘Grifon 120’, of the species Grifola frondosa.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Grifola frondosa, also known as Maitake, has been richly cultivatedartificially in Japan for a long time and known familiarly as healthyingredient. In recent years, the demand of Maitake comestible assupplement is increasing because the hot water extract from Maitake isconsidered as effective against cancer. So, growth in demand of Maitakein the form of fresh food are expected. Ease of cultivation andimprovement in productivity of the mushroom are required for expeditesales.

It is critical element that is the appearance, taste, preservativequality and tempting color of Grifola frondosa broth in to be acceptedin a market. About the broth, it is pointed out that Grifola frondosabroth is deep in color with variety.

On the other hand, Grifola frondosa had been cultivated based on wildmushroom tissue disaggregation. However, it has been so far difficult tocontrol the postplanting environment for Grifola frondosa artificially,and mass-produce the mushroom. Thus, a new mushroom species was bred bya cross-breeding techniques. For example, there has been a new varietyof Grifola frondosa named ‘Hokuto NT-100’ as disclosed in U.S. PlantPat. No. 17,984, which is featured by ease of cultivating, fine flavorand improved storage stability. However, the aforementioned ‘HokutoNT-100’ has still room for improvement in coloration and keepingquality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, the present invention provides a new anddistinct variety of mushroom characterized particularly by its cap withthick flesh and delicious-looking whitish undersurface, good qualitativecharacter and appearance, good keeping quality and storage life anddelicious tasting, which can be cultivated by gathering and repeatedbreeding of fungal strains having dominant traits and is exquisite instability, reproducibility and uniformity when being produced. Thisnovel and distinct variety of mushroom is identified as ‘Grifon 120’.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The accompanying photographic drawings illustrate the new variety, withthe color being as nearly true as is possible with color illustrationsof this type.

FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B) are photographs showing top and bottom of dualculture in which a pair of ‘Grifon 120’ strains of the invention areplaced alongside.

FIGS. 2(A) and 2(B) are photographs showing top and bottom of dualculture in which ‘Grifon 120’ strain and parent strain ‘HOKUTO NT-100’are placed alongside.

FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B) are photographs showing top and bottom of dualculture in which ‘Grifon 120’ strain and parent strain ‘HOKUTO MY-95’are placed alongside.

FIGS. 4(A) and 4(B) are photographs showing top and bottom of dualculture in which ‘Grifon 120’ strain and control strain ‘MH182011’ areplaced alongside.

FIG. 5 is a photograph showing the mazaedium of ‘Grifon 120’ of theinvention.

FIG. 6 is a photograph showing the mazaedium of the parent strain‘HOKUTO NT-100’.

FIG. 7 is a photograph showing the mazaedium of the parent strain‘HOKUTO MY-95’.

FIG. 8 is a photograph showing the mazaedium of the control strain‘MH182011’.

FIGS. 9(A) through 9(D) are photographs showing the cap gills of thestrains ‘Grifon 120’ (FIG. 9(A)), ‘HOKUTO NT-100’ (FIG. 9(B)), ‘HOKUTOMY-95’ (FIG. 9(C)) and ‘MH182011’ (FIG. 9(D)).

FIG. 10 is a comparative photograph showing the strains ‘Grifon 120’,‘HOKUTO NT-1 00’, ‘HOKUTO MY-95’ and ‘MH182011’ placed abreast in order.

FIG. 11 is a comparative photograph showing four cups of broth ofstrains ‘Grifon 120’ (upper left), ‘HOKUTO NT-100’ (upper right),‘HOKUTO MY-95’ (lower left) and ‘MH182011’ (lower right).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of mushroom,Maitake named ‘Grifon 120’, characterized particularly by its cap withthick flesh and delicious-looking whitish undersurface, good qualitativecharacter and appearance, good keeping quality and storage life anddelicious tasting.

The Maitake ‘Grifon 120’ of the invention is cultivated by bringingindigenous fungal strains and commonly-available fungal strains. Anexample of the cultivation of the Maitake ‘Grifon 120’ will be describedhereinafter. In this cultivation, the following fungal strains similarto ‘Grifon 120’ in variety were used as parent varieties.

-   -   1. Fungal strain: Maitake named ‘Hokuto MY-95’ registered as a        new plant variety under Reg. No. 8624 by the Ministry of        Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan on Dec. 22, 2000.    -   2. Fungal strain: Maitake named ‘Hokuto NT-100’ registered as a        new plant variety under Reg. No. 14031 by the Ministry of        Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan on Mar. 9, 2006.        This strain has been patented under U.S. Plant Pat. No. 17,984.

The aforementioned fungal strans were all developed and duly registeredas new variety of mushroom by the assignee's company in Japan.

The record of actually bringing the Grifon 120 of the invention intocultivation is described below. The cultivating record would be of helpto understand the cultivation method of Grifon 120 of the invention torecreate the invention.

-   -   1. (January 1993): Hokuto MY-95 was cultivated.    -   2. (January 2002): Hokuto NT-100 was cultivated.    -   3. (September 2002): Fungal hyphae was separated from Maitake        (Grifola frondosa) gathered from the wild in Yamagata, Japan, to        obtain a fungal strain named ‘MH182099’.    -   4. (February 2004): From fungal strains obtained by crossing        Hokuto MY-95 and MH182099, there was sorted out a fungal strain        having a cap with whitish undersurface as intended, which was        named ‘MH182188’.    -   5. (August 2006): A quality fungal strain (Specimen Maitake        #G060383) conformable to the breeding objective was obtained by        crossing Hokuto NT-100 and MH182188. As the result of repeating        the cultivation experiment, identification and productive        stability and uniformity of the obtained Maitake #G060383 could        be confirmed, thus to name the Maitake Grifon 120.    -   6. (August 2007) An application for plant variety registration        for Grifon 120 was filed with the Ministry of Agriculture,        Forestry and Fisheries of Japan.

(1) Comparison of Maitake Grifon 120 with Existing Varieties in DualCulture:

For identifying specific characteristics of the Grifon 120, dual cultureusing commercially available cultivars as parent controls was performedto investigate idiosyncrasy of fungi showing a reluctance to touchothers.

The investigation was conducted by seeding the fungal strains of Grifon120 and other control fungi upon a potato dextrose agar medium in such amanner that the fungal strains of Grifon 120 are confronted with thecontrol fungi at intervals of 3 cm, cultivating the strains at 25degrees C. for 28 days, and then, determining whether the strains showthe reluctance to touch others.

The fungal strains used in the comparative experiments are as follows:

-   -   1. Grifon 120: (Maitake #G060383) Strain according to the        invention.    -   2. Hokuto NT-100: Parent variety similar to Grifon 120, as        described above.    -   3. Hokuto MY-95: Similar variety to Grifon 120, as described        above.    -   4. MH182011: Common cultivar available commercially in Japan,        which was used as a control strain.

In the result, the comparative experiments thus performed revealed thatGrifon 120 of the invention shows the reluctance to touch all the otherstrains (see Table 1 and FIG. 1 to 4). Consequently, it is evident fromthe experiments that Grifon 120 is a new variety of Grifola frondosa.TABLE 1 Results of Dual Culture Similar Variety Commercial Strain NT-100MY-95 MH082011 Grifon 120 + + +* Strains ‘Grifon 120’ have no reluctance to touch each other.

(2) Cultural Characteristics of Grifon 120:

-   -   1. Grifon 120 cultivated on the potato dextrose agar medium has        the following characteristics. The mycelial color is white,        shape of the surface of the colony is smooth, shape of colony        edge is irregular, colony thickness is thick, and density of        hyphae is sparse (see Tables 2-4).

2. The optimal temperature for hyphal growth was approximately 26degrees C. (see Tables 2-4). TABLE 2 Parent Variety CommercialCharacteristic Code of Field Variety Note Hokuto Hokuto StrainCharacteristics 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 (Data) NT-100 MY-95 MH082011Genetic Dual Culture − + — 09 09 09 Reluctance-to-touch PhysiologyMycelial 20 22 24 26 28 30 04 04 05 05 Growth Optimum Temperature (° C.)Growth Rate (mm/day) (mm/day) (mm/day) (mm/day) 10° C. 1.2 0.4 0.6 0.815° C. 1.5 1.4 1.7 1.8 20° C. 2.4 2.3 2.6 2.5 25° C. 2.7 3.1 2.9 2.9 30°C. 2.0 1.9 2.9 2.7 35° C. 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Mycelial Color White Other 0101 01 01 Shape of Surface of Colony Smooth Laugh Other 01 01 01 01

TABLE 3 Parent Variety Commercial Characteristic Code of Field VarietyNote HOKUTO HOKUTO Strain Characteristics 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09(Data) NT-100 MY-95 MH082011 Shape of Irregular Regular 01 01 01 09Colony Edge Colony Thickness Thin Medium Thick 07 05 05 03 Hypha DensitySparse Medium Dense 03 03 03 03 Cultivation Characteristics CapsuleLittle Medium Much 05 05 05 05 Formation Capsule None ◯ 01 01 01 09Coloration Length of Time <30 31˜40 41˜50 51˜60 61˜70 >70 03 03 03 06until fruit body formation at optimal temperature Optimal <15 15˜2020˜25 >25 03 03 03 02 Development Temperature (° C.) Optimal Fruit <1818˜21 >21 02 02 02 01 Body Growth Temperature (° C.) Budding periodEarly Normal Late 05 05 05 05 (Natural Cultivation) Yield (g/bottle) 400450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 07 05 07 01

TABLE 4 Commercial Characteristic Code of Field Variety Note ParentVariety Strain Characteristics 01 02 03 04 01 02 03 04 (Data) 01 02 03Morphology Cap Size Small Medium Large 07 07 05 07 Thickness Thin MediumThick 05 05 05 05 Notch None ◯ 01 01 01 09 Cross sectional shape 1 2 302 02 02 02 Royal Horticultural Society:RHS Color Chart Face color W G-WD-G B D-B Other Grey-brown Grey-brown Grey-brown Grey-brown (199a)(199b) (n199c) (199c) Annulus 1 2 3 4 Other 03 04 04 02 Hair Few MediumMany 03 03 03 03 Shape of Tube Face 1 2 3 4 Other 01 01 01 01 Unevennessof cross None Present 01 01 01 09 sectional the tip of tube TubePosition 1 2 3 Other 03 03 03 03 Stipe Shape 1 2 3 Other 02 02 03 01

(3) Morphological Characteristics of Grifon 120:

[Cultivation Method]

(Culture Vessel) Twenty polypropylene culture bags with a ventilatingfilter, which is formed in a square and has the dimensions of 8500 to9000 cc in volume, 200×120 mm in bore diameter, and 460 mm in height,were prepared for cultivation of the fungal strains. The cultivation ofthe fungal strains was performed twice, using the ten culture bags eachtime.

(Culture Medium) There were used culture media composed of sawdust ofbroadleaf tree, especially beechwood, and corn bran. Each culture bagwas filled with 2.5 kg of the culture medium at the mixture ratio of 1kg of sawdust, 0.5 kg of corn bran and 2.1 kg of water (ratio by weight)and steriized by autoclaving.

(Seed Fungus) Seed fungus composed of sawdust was used. About 25 cc ofseed fungus was inoculated upon each culture medium.

(Cultivation) Cultivation was performed for 40 to 70 days at atemperature of 20 to 25 degrees C., at a humidity of 60% to 70%, and atan illumination intensity of 200 to 500 lux. The time when primordium ofthe objective fungal strain is formed and colored was determined to bean ending time period of cultivation.

(Strain Growth) After the cultivation, the growing condition of thestrains was shifted to the condition of a temperature of 15 to 20degrees C., a humidity of 80% to 95% and an illumination intensity of500 to 1500 lux to make mazaedia of the strains grow. The time whenpores appear in the cap gill was determined to be harvesttime.

[Result of Cultivation]

The cultural experiment clarifies the differences between Grifon 120 ofthe invention and the control fungal strains including the most similarstrains, as shown in Tables 2 to 4 above. The mazaedia of the strainsare shown in FIG. 4 through FIG. 8.

(4) Morphological Characteristics of the Cap Gill of Grifon 120

Comparison was observed about a pore and gill color of Grifon 120 andsimilar varieties. The results are shown in the picture of theaccompanying drawing.

The cap gill is white more than that of the similar species HOKUTONT-100 similar to Grifon 120, and slightly colored. The pores in thegill were also made slow grow beyond recognition (FIG. 9).

(5) Features of the Broth Decocted from Grifon 120 (Table 5)

A comparison of broth between Grifon 120 of the invention and thesimilar varieties was drawn to evaluate Grifon 120. The broth of thestrains in the experiment was obtained by boiling hot water containing100 grams of the strain mazaedium over high heat for 30 seconds, furtherboiling the hot water for 30 seconds over gentle heat, and then bringingout the mazaedium from the hot water. The broths obtained resultantlyfrom the comparative investigation performed for the strains weremeasured in concentration by comparison. (FIG. 10)

The result was that Grifon 120 was weaker in broth concentration thanthe commercial varieties of strains, but substantially equal to thesimilar variety NT-100. TABLE 5 Comparison of absorbance of brothsAbsorption wavelength 437 nm HOKUTO HOKUTO Fungal strain Grifon 120NT-100 MY-95 MH182011 Absorbance 0.214 0.218 0.253 0.263

(6) Eating-quality Test of Grifon 120 (Table 6)

The eating-quality of Grifon 120 of the invention was compared withHokuto NT-100. Grifon 120 is a strain improved from the parent varietyNT-100 to enhance the cultural and eating quality thereof as describedabove. However, new varieties obtained by breeding do not always havethe same flavor and texture. The strain does not always become tastelesseven though the strain is made better in morphology. Thus, a taste testof the strains was also carried out.

The resultantly obtained fungi (mushrooms) were preserved in a commonenvironment as premises for being distributed ordinarily. That is, themushrooms were preserved at 3 degrees C. for 5 days after harvesting, at30 degrees C. for two days, and further 15 degrees C. for three days.Then, on the tenth day after harvesting in that manner, a taste test wascarried out.

On the taste test was conducted by 64 monitors eating mushrooms, aquestionnaire on the taste of the mushrooms was carried out. The resultsof a questionnaire are shown in Table 6. TABLE 6 Results of Taste TestDaintiness Firmness Ranking A B C E G N E D E NT-100 (ppl) 13 39 11 1 4618 0 16 14 (%) 20 61 17 2 72 28 0 25 Grifon 120 (ppl) 28 31 5 0 57 7 034 22 (%) 44 48 8 0 89 11 0 53[Daintiness] A: Good taste B: Fair C: Bad taste E: No opinion[Firmness] G: Crunchy N: Soft E: No opinion[Ranking] D: Rated as “tasty” by comparison with others E: No opinion

As will be appreciated from the results shown in Table 6, Grifon 120 ofthe invention is better in daintiness and firmness than the controlvarieties. Grifon 120 was chosen as “higher-ranking” by 53 percent ofmonitors while the control variety HOKUTO NT-100 was chosen by 25percent of monitors. Thus, Grifon 120 of the invention should provedainty to consuming public.

CONCLUSION

The new variety Grifon 120 produced by breeding according to theinvention is different in morphologic attribute from the similar varietyHOKUTO NT-100 and superior to the control variety MH182011 in terms ofmorphology, broth denseness and eating quality.

1. A new and distinct variety of mushroom, substantially as describedand illustrated herein.